Hand carried shopping baskets are popular with customers in grocery stores, for example, where smaller quantities of goods are involved, i.e., where wheeled shopping carts are unnecessary. Conventional baskets have two wire handles, each in an inverted U-shaped configuration, pivotally connected to a basket rim in spaced relationship. The basket might be fabricated of wire, itself, although molded plastic baskets are now widely used.
To carry the basket, the two basket handles are brought together and gripped by the shopper in a well-known manner. The basket can be carried easily and little, if any, discomfort is caused by the wire in the shopper's hand when the basket is empty or only lightly loaded. When the basket is loaded, however, its weight causes the wire handles to painfully press into the shopper's hands because forces are concentrated.
Of course, there have been numerous force dispersion handle grips designed for wire handles in the same or similar environments. An example is illustrated in the Sweeny U.S. Pat. No. 4,932,702. None affords a high degree of shopper comfort while still being simple, inexpensive and highly reliable, however. The present invention is directed toward overcoming the shortcomings of the prior art.